Schloss Nymphenburg - Nymphenburg Palace

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After our morning sightseeing in Munich, we visited the beautiful Nymphenburg Palace before traveling to Prague. Nymphenburg Palace, or Schloss Nymphenburg, was commissioned in 1663 as a summer residence by Elector Ferdinand Maria. The central pavilion was designed by Agostino Barelli, an Italian Baroque architect, and completed in 1675. (Barelli also created the elaborate Theatinerkirche in Munich for Ferdinand Maria and his wife, Henriette Adelaide of Savoy.) It was to begin as a mere hunting lodge, but Ferdinand and Henriette's descendants liked Nymphenburg and kept enlarging it into a full palace with formal gardens. Elector Max Emanuel extended the palace beginning in 1701 by adding two pavilions and galleries designed by Enrico Zucalli and Giovanni Antonio Viscardi to the south and north of the central pavilion.

Further extensions, adding the side wings, began in 1714. The first palace had a small Italian garden, which was replaced with a large French Baroque garden from 1715 to 1726. The entire garden was again landscaped from 1804 to 1823 into a fashionable English formal garden. (The central axis and fountain remain from the Baroque garden.) Today, Nymphenburg Palace is a popular Munich attraction. Visitors can see just the palace or take a tour of the Wittlesbach royal apartments, walk the extensive gardens, and see the many outbuildings in the gardens, including the Rococo Amalienburg and the Magdalenenklause, designed to look like a ruin. Our group only had enough time to see the palace's exterior, fountain, and some of the gardens. However, I would love to revisit the place to see the royal apartments and explore more of this vast summer residence and its grounds!

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Photos

Schloss Nymphenburg
Schloss Nymphenburg. Northern Pavilions. Administrative offices. Franz von Bayern, the current Duke of Bavaria, maintains his apartment residence here.
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Schloss Nymphenburg
Schloss Nymphenburg - Nympenburg Palace. The Main Hall is currently being restored. It was originally built as a summer residence commissioned by Elector Ferdinand Maria in 1663. The central pavilion, designed by Agostino Barelli and completed in 1675, was later expanded by Max Emanuel, starting in 1701, by adding the two pavilions and galleries designed by Enrico Zucalli and Giovanni Antonio Viscardi to the south and north of the central pavilion.
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Statue in the Cour d'honneur
Schloss Nymphenburg - Nympenburg Palace. Putti statue in the Cour d'honneur.
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Schloss Nymphenburg
Schloss Nymphenburg - Nymphenburg Palace. Rear elevation. Commissioned as a summer residence by Elector Ferdinand Maria in 1663. The central pavilion was designed by Agostino Barelli and completed in 1675. Max Emanuel extended the palace beginning in 1701, adding two pavilions and galleries by Enrico Zucalli and Giovanni Antonio Viscardi to the south and north of the central pavilion.
"The Schloss, an extensive group of buildings with a façade 660 yds. in length, was erected in 1668-1728. The central structure, with its five stories, was built by Barelli, while Viscardi added the arcades in 1702, and Etlner the wings in 1718."--Baedeker 1914
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Schloss Nymphenburg
Schloss Nymphenburg - Nymphenburg Palace. Commissioned as a summer residence by Elector Ferdinand Maria in 1663. The central pavilion was designed by Agostino Barelli and completed in 1675.
"The central structure, with its five stories, was built by Barelli, while Viscardi added the arcades in 1702, and Etlner the wings in 1718."--Baedeker 1914.
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Bavarian Lion
Schloss Nymphenburg - Nympenburg Palace. Bavarian Lion on the Central Pavilion.
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Bavarian Lion
Schloss Nymphenburg - Nympenburg Palace. Bavarian Lion on the Central Pavilion.
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Great Parterre
Schloss Nymphenburg - Nympenburg Palace. Great Parterre. Axis of the French Baroque garden of 1715-1726.
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Fountain in the Great Parterre
Schloss Nymphenburg - Nymphenburg Palace. Fountain at the Great Parterre.
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Nymphenburg Canal
Schloss Nymphenburg. Canal at the South Wing.
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Nymphenburg Canal
Schloss Nymphenburg - Nympenburg Palace. South Wing Canal.
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